Brilliant.org Review

Are you one of those people who think that Math is needed only for some nerdy tech specialists or scientists? No, Math is everywhere and can be highly beneficial for every person, no matter what their occupation is. For this aim, Brilliant.org has created an online platform where all, from tech professionals to just curious individuals can sharpen their brains and develop essential skills.

So, let’s find out more about this company in this review of brilliant.org.

What Is Brilliant and How Does It Work?

Brilliant is a website that helps people to learn or recall some math or scientific concepts. The company’s motto is “Learn to think” and it is aimed at different audience types. Particularly, when you’re signing up, you need to choose which category describes you best – A student / A professional / A hobbyist and enthusiast / A parent (Teacher). Based on this, the algorithm comes with the best options for your aims.

In a nutshell, the company offers more than 60 different courses that reveal various math and science topics. Each course includes quizzes and gamified tasks as a huge part of the learning process.

As for the top 4 most popular Brilliant courses, they are the ones below.

Logic

Computer Science Fundamentals

Introduction to Neural Networks

Math Fundamentals

Those courses were created by math and science educators from MIT, Caltech, Duke, the University of Chicago, and other people who work within the mentioned field.

So, to proceed, sign up with your email or your Facebook account, mention your learning goals, and choose the course that fits your needs the best.

Also, you can access Brilliant both from your desktop or smartphone as the company has its app available on Google Play as well as AppStore.

Brilliant.org Courses Review

Math Fundamentals

The example of a math quiz on brilliant.org

This course is built mostly as a set of quizzes with each step becoming more complicated as you move along. After the completion of the quiz, you see what percent of other users have also chosen the correct answer.

In a nutshell, this course includes almost 30 interactive quizzes and more than 200 concepts and exercises for improving your math education level and skills in logic, number theory, and algebra.

Generally, this course is more for having your mind sharp and practicing mental counting in a gamified way rather than grasping serious math concepts.

Logic

The example of a logic quiz on brilliant.org

This course consists of a bunch of quizzes and tasks that push you to think logically in order to solve them. They all are gamified and you can find yourself stuck dealing with a new and new task. Among the covered topics are Propositional Logic, Inclusive and Exclusive OR, Combinatorial Game Algorithms, and other subjects.

Computer Science Fundamentals

Here you can grasp the basics of algorithms and computational thinking. This course includes such topics as binary Search and brute-force search, greedy algorithms, decision trees, basics of programming among the other ones. The course helps you discover more than 150 concepts and includes 14 quizzes.

Brilliant Pricing

The company offers two types of subscription, free and premium. The first one allows you to try each course for some short period of time and the second one lets you fully dive into guided courses with a bunch of quizzes and other tests.

The premium package costs $24.99 /month but it also has an option of a 7-day free trial to test all the courses that are of interest to you.

There is also an option of an annual subscription which is much more profitable, about $100 with a discount applied.

Brilliant Reviews

Many users on Trustpilot, Quora, and Reddit give positive feedback on the service describing Brilliant as a really useful and fun way to keep your mind sharp. Some, however, complain that there is a lack of explanation and depth in the presenting of concepts. Also, there are many users who are upset with how hard it can be to cancel the subscription.

Competitors

Brilliant.org vs Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a website where people can learn some STEM concepts. The information there is presented in an understandable way as well as on Brilliant. Brilliant offers more gamified experience and you find yourself truly involved in the process, while Khan Academy reveals the subject deeper. Another key difference is that Brilliant is mostly a paid platform while Khan Academy provides all the information at no rate.

Brilliant vs Udacity

While both companies are aimed at teaching tech concepts related mostly to computer science, Brilliant is more about playing while learning, and most courses aren’t long ones. At the same time, Udacity is focused on changing career and thus getting deeper knowledge. Also, Udacity is a much more expensive provider when compared to Brilliant.

Is it worth it?

The best way to decide is to give them a try which is easily done with a free trial for a week. However, you already should have an understanding that this platform is more about keeping your brains sharp by regular mental exercising which Brilliant offers. This company is not about giving you college-level knowledge or skills to get a new job. It’s more about gamified studying and staying intellectually fit.

7Total Score

Gamified studying

The website offers to grasp math and science concepts by completing quizzes and fun tasks.